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Reactive Monitoring Mission to Simien Mountains National Park Ethiopia

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Reactive Monitoring Mission to Simien Mountains National Park Ethiopia Joint World Heritage Centre – IUCN Monitoring Mission to Simien Mountains National Park World Heritage Property MISSION REPORT Reactive Monitoring Mission to Simien Mountains National Park Ethiopia 10 – 17 May 2006 Guy Debonnet (UNESCO) Lota Melamari (IUCN) Bastian Bomhard (IUCN) July 2006 1 Executive Summary The World Heritage Committee requested at its 29th session (Durban, 2004) a joint UNESCO/IUCN monitoring mission to Simien Mountains National Park to assess the state of conservation of the property and progress towards achieving the 4 benchmarks set by the World Heritage Committee at its 25th session to guide the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The mission took place 10 – 17 May 2006. This joint mission report summarizes the mission’s key findings on current conservation and management issues at the property. It includes detailed recommendations regarding the benchmarks set by the Committee, including a proposal for 4 revised benchmarks, and other recommendations to improve the conservation and management of the property. The mission found that substantial progress has been made towards the benchmarks 1, 2 and 4 set by the Committee at its 25th session. At the same time, the mission concluded that it is imperative to finalize the park boundary changes and to legalize them through a re- gazetment of Simien Mountains National Park. The mission also noted that benchmark 3 was not achieved and will not be achieved in the near future. The mission concluded that in spite of the progress made since 2001, the threats to the values for which the property was inscribed on the World Heritage List have not yet been resolved. Based on its findings, the mission recommends that the World Heritage Committee retain the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger. To guide a possible future removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger, the mission proposes the following 4 revised benchmarks (to replace the benchmarks set by the Committee at its 25th session): (1) Finalize the extension of SMNP to include the Silki Yared – Kiddis Yared Mountains and the Ras Dejen Mountain with the interlinking corridors; (2) Re-gazetment of the new park boundaries, including the extensions of Lemalimo, Mesarerya, the Silki Yared – Kiddis Yared Mountains and the Ras Dejen Mountain as well as the realignment of the boundary to exclude certain villages; (3) Develop a strategy and action plan, as part of the planned management plan revision, to significantly reduce the impact of livestock grazing on the conservation of the property by introducing “no grazing” and “limited grazing” zones based on ecological criteria and by setting up a strict management regime in zones were grazing will still be tolerated in the short to medium term, and secure funding for its implementation; (4) Develop a strategy and action plan as part of the management plan to support the development of alternative livelihoods for the people living within the park as well as its immediate vicinity, in order to limit in the medium term their impact on the natural resources of the property, and secure funding for its implementation. The mission discussed these revised benchmarks with the State Party and believes they are achievable in the short term (1-2 years) if the necessary external financial support and some technical assistance are provided. UNESCO and IUCN, as well as other conservation agencies, such as Frankfurt Zoological Society, might be able to provide the technical assistance, whilst limited funding could be provided from the World Heritage Fund. However, for the implementation of the management plan, and the strategies required under benchmarks 3 and 4, donor funding will need to be mobilized. 2 1. Background to the Mission The Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP) was one of the first properties inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978. The property was inscribed on the basis of its importance for biodiversity (criterion iv) and its exceptional natural beauty (criterion iii). The park is home to a number of threatened and endemic species. Of the 21 large mammal species that can be found in the park, three are locally endemic (Walia ibex) or endemic to Ethiopia (Ethiopian wolf and Gelada baboon) – these are the flagship species of SMNP. The Walia ibex (Capra walie) and the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis; also called Simien fox) are considered as critically endangered and endangered, respectively (IUCN 2006 Red List). The Walia ibex can only be found in the Simien Mountains, where its current population is estimated at 623 individuals (November 2005). The Ethiopian wolf is the rarest canid in the world, with a total population estimated at less than 500 animals (IUCN 2006 Red List). A census carried out in 2005 estimated the population in the Simien Mountains at 78 animals. Other large mammal species include the Anubis baboon, Hamadryas baboon, klipspringer, and golden jackal. The mountains are also home to 5 small mammal species and 16 bird species endemic to Eritrea and/or Ethiopia as well as an important population of the rare lammergeyer, a spectacular vulture species. The Simien Mountains are part of the Afro-alpine centre of plant diversity and are characterized by a high but yet unquantified level of plant endemism. The scenery is spectacular, composed of a vast undulating plateau dissected by forested rocky valleys and dominated by the rugged peaks of the Simien Mountains, including the highest peak in Ethiopia, Ras Dejen (4,624 m), situated to the east of the park. SMNP was created in 1969. At the time of its creation, a number of villages and important tracts of land used by the local communities were included within the parks boundaries. This situation had not changed at the time of inscription of the park on the World Heritage List. In fact, the nomination document mentions that 80 % of the park was subjected to human use, in particular livestock grazing, agriculture and human settlement, leaving only 20 % undisturbed and available for the Walia ibex. It further specifies that the plateau was over-run by domestic livestock, resulting in erosion and reduction of the habitat available for the Ethiopian wolf. It points out that the central area of the park around the village of Gich had been under excessive agricultural cultivation for a long time, leading to erosion and that agriculture was expanding into the middle terraces, leading to deforestation of the giant heath vegetation and further reduction of the habitat available for the Walia ibex. The nomination further specifies that the resettlement of the human inhabitants of the property had been planned by the provincial Government and that an extension of SMNP was in the planning to include more critical habitat of the Walia ibex into the park. At the time of nomination, the population of Walia ibex was estimated at 250 animals in the park, and a further 50 animals outside the park, while the population of Ethiopian wolf was estimated at 20 individuals. Shortly after the inscription, the political conflict in the country escalated in a civil war and in 1983, the State Party reported that park staff was forced to abandon the property, which was occupied by rebels. There is evidence that the Walia ibex was heavily poached during this period and that part of the population moved into better protected areas to the east of the park. In 1991, at the end of the conflict, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, noting that while all park infrastructure was destroyed during the conflict, it had not significantly affected the natural resources and values of the property. Following reports on the deterioration of the Walia ibex population, a monitoring mission was fielded in November 1996. The mission noted the decline in populations of the flagship species Ethiopian wolf and Walia ibex, the continued human pressure on the park, with 60% of the park subjected to human use and over 4500 people living in the park and a further 30,000 living in its immediate vicinity, the increased use of the remaining wildlife habitats by livestock, the expansion of agricultural fields in the park and the on-going construction of the Debark – Mekane Birhan road through the property. On the basis of this report, the World 3 Heritage Committee at its 20th session (Merida, 1996) decided to inscribe the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The inscription on the Danger List more or less coincided with a transfer in 1997 of the responsibility for the management of the site from the national level to the Amhara Regional Government. In 2000 the regional authorities organized a fact-finding mission, in which high level officials of the Amhara Regional Government, representatives from different government agencies and local administrations and experts from the Centre for Development and Environment of the University of Berne participated, to study the threats to the property and develop recommendations to address these threats. The recommendations included the creation of a steering committee to co-ordinate the conservation efforts by the different levels of administration, the realignment of the road, the realignment of park boundaries by excluding villages situated on the edge of the park and at the same time including further key habitats of Walia ibex and Ethiopian wolf, the relocation of 4 villages in the park (Gich, Islam Debir, Adarmaz and Muchila) and the development of a project to support sustainable development activities in the buffer zone. In October 2000, during a UNESCO workshop on “The Role of World Heritage in Danger listing in promoting international cooperation for the conservation or World Natural Heritage” organized in the framework of the World Conservation Congress in Amman, a representative from the state government presented a paper justifying opposition to the Danger listing and requesting a monitoring mission to the property.
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